Jail informant avoids life sentence in fatal home invasion

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — A Florida man convicted in a fatal home invasion has avoided a life sentence after prosecutors and detectives recommended leniency at his sentencing hearing.

News outlets report that a Palm Beach County circuit judge gave 47-year-old Frederick Cobia 40 years on Monday. He pleaded guilty more than seven years ago to second-degree murder and home-invasion robbery, but his sentencing was delayed as he served as an informant in nearly two dozen cases.

Authorities say Cobia pistol-whipped and then fatally shot 57-year-old Desmond Dunkley at a South Bay home in 2009. Cobia will get credit for the time he's been in jail since the murder.